IDF orders closure of Al Jazeera offices in Ramallah for 45 days
Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah overnight Sunday, enforcing a 45-day military closure order, just months after the network’s Jerusalem bureau was shut down.
The raid, which was broadcast live, showed an Israeli soldier delivering the closure order to Walid al-Omari, the Qatari-owned network’s bureau chief who had relocated from Jerusalem to Ramallah. “There is a court order to close Al Jazeera for 45 days. I ask that you take the cameras and leave immediately,” the soldier told al-Omari.
Al Jazeera reported that the IDF confiscated equipment and documents from the offices and prevented senior reporters, including al-Omari and Givara Budeiri, from broadcasting outside. The building's surroundings were declared a closed military zone, and trucks were brought in to remove the confiscated items.
Footage from the scene also showed soldiers removing a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist who was killed during an IDF operation in Jenin in May 2022. The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned the raid, calling it “a new aggression against journalistic work and the media.”
Hamas’ government media office in Gaza labeled the closure “a crime and a violation of the laws.” Al Jazeera continues to operate in Gaza with one reporter, despite the closures.
In May, Israeli police raided Al Jazeera's offices in East Jerusalem, following a government decision to shut down the network in Israel.
Last month, the Israeli government also approved a proposal to block the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese Al Mayadeen network, and ordered the confiscation of its equipment and the blocking of its websites.